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Monday, February 21, 2011

Mom's Christmas Pickles

Growing up My Mom made these wonderful "Christmas Pickles" all the time. I never paid very close attention to what she put in it or the amounts of the ingredients. I don't know where She got the recipe or if She made it up herself. I just know that everyone that knew Mom, loved her Christmas Pickles and eagerly awaited her to be in the mood to make them. I doubt people would have eaten as many as they did knowing how much sugar was in them, but you just never can underestimate a Christmas Pickle craving.

Every time I visited Her I would ask her to make a batch, and even Shawn became quickly addicted to Mom's Pickles. Mom passed away last year and I have been craving Her Christmas Pickles for a couple of months. I didn't have the recipe and could not find a single similar recipe anywhere online.

I was in quite a pickle. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

With the help of a few Facebook friends and a Cousin, and a little trial and error, I have made a batch of what I think even Mom would have agreed are awesome Christmas Pickles that rival her own.

The recipe Mom used to make called for a jar of whole dill pickles and for you to slice them. I chose to go with the lazy route and use a jar of dill hamburger slices. Mom used to do this a lot in her later years.

Empty the liquid out into a cup and save.

Next measure out one cup of sugar.

Next peel and chop the onion. I used a food processor. You need approximately 1/2 cup of minced onion.

Add 1/2 cup of fresh minced onion to the pickle jar and then pour the sugar on top.

Add the teaspoon of Celery Seed on top.

Add the Horseradish.

Add the vinegar and as much of the pickle juice as you can fit in back to the jar. Shake well.

These will taste just awful if you try one now.

Shake vigorously several times a day and turn jar over once per day. These will be edible on the 4th day at a minimum. After a week they are irresistibly delicious!

Here is a jar almost gone. Notice the sediment of celery seed and horseradish. That is what needs shaking and turning the jar over to keep it mixed and marinating uniformly. These are simple to make and extremely snackable. They are similar to a "bread and butter" pickle with a hard kick of horseradish at the end.